Here is a link about the conference, as well as a few pictures! Enjoy!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Dog
Well folks, it happened. I have officially eaten dog! (picture 1 is the before, I was super excited. or maybe it was terrified..) It was dog soup, and honestly kind of tasty. But it was hard to get over the fact that dog was sitting in my bowl. But it can now go down in the check list of things eaten here.
A beautiful rooftop view
An AWESOME picture of those spiders who are everywhere
Dinner at the home of some incredible members!
Sleeping Beauty, Wonder Woman, and Dogs
Sept 29
This week has been great as always. We have once again been on the less active search and rescue! While walking the streets we passed a lady, who every time we looked at her would run away. But she was following us for a while so we finally said hi. She then began to freak out, insisting we had 'bewitched her with our charm' and she didn't know how to handle it. For the next 15 minutes, she followed us saying in every single way possible in both english and korean how beautiful we were. Then she got very excited and exclaimed, "That's it! You (pointing to Sister Evans) are Sleeping Beauty/Cinderella/Little Mermaid, and You (pointing at me) are Wonder Woman!" Um.. actually we are missionaries but thank you! We told her we really needed to go, so she yelled "I love you!" (in Korean) as we walked away. Then, far louder than the first time, she yelled, "I love you!" (this time in English) No gospel interest, but she sure was friendly. We meet fun people on the streets. We have found a lot of homes, and a few people. Generally we get little response. BUT! This week was ward conference, so we went to a bunch of less active homes and gave them all invitation. One non-member woman answered the door, and once she saw us, immediately slammed the door. So we just put an invitation on the door for her member daughter. Several hours later, we got a text from the daughter with a picture of the invitation, thanking us for thinking about her. It was awesome! We haven't met her yet, but it's amazing the connection you can feel just through text. We have been able to text her off and on and while we haven't seen her yet she knows she isn't forgotten.
Yesterday was ward conference and it was amazing!! Pong Yeun Sook came to church again, and one of the ward members took her under her wing. They sat by eachother for all three hours of church, and during the lunch afterwards. As they were getting ready to leave, the member said to her, "You like this church and want to be a part of it. So you need to meet with these missionaries, learn more, and get baptized. I'll be at your baptism!" Our investigator agreed that was what she needed to do, and we were more than happy to help with that plan. It is INCREDIBLE the impact that members make in helping people feel comfortable and want to take that step of baptism. We were so grateful, and will keep you updated on her progress. We also had two less actives come, Kang Jee Eun and Kim Myung Oak, who we have been working with for the past few months. It was a very special meeting, and so fun to see how many people came to support. So many members brought less active members and friends, and lots brought non-members. We are very excited to start working with some of them!! :) Members are the best, and the absolute key to this work going forth in the Lord's way! After lunch, a man was baptized. He has been working so hard to overcome word of wisdom issues, and finally overcame with lots of prayers and priesthood blessings. He is so special and we are SOOO happy for him!
A really cool scripture that I came across this week was in 2 Tim. 3:12. As we are true and faithful to Jesus Christ, hard times are bound to come. But, as we continue to rely on the Savior the help always comes and we will have blessings poured out upon our heads. Such a comforting thought. The Lord is too good to us, and continues to bless us daily. He is leading and guiding this work, and it is going forth here in beautiful Korea, Finland, and all over the world! I love it! This gospel is true! I love you all, have a wonderful week!
-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller :)
Quote of the week-
“This is one of the most remarkable periods of the world’s history! Ancient prophets yearned to see our day.
Let us be awake and not be weary of well-doing, for we “are laying the foundation of a great work,” even preparing for the return of the Savior. When we add the light of our example as a witness to the beauty and power of restored truth, we will not sleep through the Restoration.”
Aha! It's Zumba that's the universal language! Or maybe it's steak?
There is a group that does Senior Zumba near our house. We see them often, and it seriously one of the greatest things in the world. Oh man we love it so much.
We went to Outback for Elder Ross's 2 year missionary anniversary. We ate very well. and way too much. But it was delicious!
Just smile and wave boys! (and girls)
Sept 21
Well this has been a great week, full of reminders that there must be opposition in all things, but also that as we face everything with a smile things always work out. While talking to people on the street, you meet a lot of different people. Especially in a big city like Seoul. This week has been no exception. These were days that try mens souls. But, as He always does, the Lord pours out His blessings on those who endure well. One blessing is Sister Evans. Seriously, she is amazing. Things like having to wait 4 hours in line, or being rejected, or being rejected, or having creatures on your spoon, or whatever it may be, happen often. Yet we were talking and realized that through all of these things, neither of us even thought to get upset or angry. We are always laughing, having fun, and are certain we will meet all those who are not yet prepared sometime in the future when they will be ready to accept the gospel. There wasn't ever an option except being happy. She has such a positive outlook, it's so contagious. Oh man she's great, I am very lucky.
Then while talking to people on the street we met a woman. She was sick of Christian churches. She had attended just about everyone and was tired of the corruption of doctrine, and leaders seeking money. (especially here, there are 'Christian' churches EVERYWHERE! it's more of a business generally, then a church.) She wanted religion but wasn't willing to join a corrupt church. But she didn't want to worship at a Buddhist temple, since she doesn't believe that is right. So she was lost and had given up hope. Oh my goodess, if there was ever a person who needed to hear the Restoration! We were able to teach her about prophets, apostasy, Christ, and the beautiful restoration through Joseph Smith. It was incredible and powerful, and while she didn't feel ready to meet again, we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and promise she had found God's true church. We left her, and passed by about 15 minutes later across the street, only to find her studying the Book of Mormon! She was completely engaged in those beautiful words, and we watched for a few minutes. Seriously, one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. We are praying that she will call so we can meet and share more!
Another woman we met on the street had been promising to go to church for weeks now, but never showed up. She said she would meet us yesterday at 11:30 so we could go to church together. She wasn't there, so we called her. She said she wasn't coming, and I wasn't very happy with that answer. So I told her we were standing there waiting and she needed to come now. And guess what, she came!! It was amazing. That 'Follow Up' talk I wrote about last week, yeah it really works. She came to church, read from the Book of Mormon and Hymn book throughout all of sacrament meeting, and said she wants to keep coming back. The ward is incredible! And everytime we left her for a second, someone had already started talking and introducing themselves. There wasn't even room to sit by her at lunch (they have lunch every Sunday was a ward) because she was surrounded by ward members who had already accepted her as a part of the ward. It was so amazing!
This week has been so good. Lots of ups and downs, but good times outshine everything else a hundred times over. The Lord is so good to us. I promise that as we face everything with a smile, and truly seek the Lord's hand in all things, we will find Him there and see the blessings he has in store for us. I love this gospel. I love my Savior! This is truly His church and His kingdom on earth. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller :)
Ew. Just Ew.
For those of you who don't speak Korean, this is the "Shanelle Karaoke Room". Had to snap a pic.
Who wouldn't want this little guy on their spoon? Yes, she did eat him.
They have these GIANT yellow spiders EVERYWHERE! I tried getting close enough for you to sort of tell the size.
The Lord loves Korea!!
Sept 15
We have been working a lot with less active named Kang Jee Eun. Her family is really against the church, but she knows it's right and is trying hard to live the commandments. We have been meeting with her a lot more lately, and she has been coming to FHE with the ward for the past few weeks. She came to the Saturday and Sunday sessions of conference, and is progressing everyday! We love her so much. She loves the missionaries, and thinks all the elders are 'funny American boys'. She really likes Germans, and loves that our ancestors are German. Fun side note. Her faith is getting stronger and stronger everyday. We decided to watch the Joseph Smith First Vision DVD with her. And even though the world seemed determined to stop her from watching it (about 5 minutes into the movie, the DVD player took a sudden kamikazi leap off the tv, crashing to the floor) But two days and two DVD players later, we were able to finish it and the spirit was so strong. She is amazing, and her prayer to end the lesson was so full of faith. We love her.
Well, in order to not get deported, all missionaries are required to have a foreigners card. This card is received shortly after arriving in country, and must be renewed every year. Fortunately, Sister Evans just came to country and my year mark is coming up (AAHH!) so we were able to do this at the same time. First I needed to update my address. We left our home early to go to the office so we didn't use a lot of time. We got there only to learn I had forgotten a necessary paper. So we went back home, got the paper, went back and finally got it all down. All the while meeting incredible people on the way. Then today we had to go to the other office to update my card and get hers. On our way there we met a woman who said she would never read the Book of Mormon. She had read about our church in a novel (1 man, many wives) and said we were pretty similar to Muslim religions in our oppression of women. We talked for awhile, clearing up those rumors and testified how we knew our message was true. Before we got off, we again offered her the Book of Mormon. She readily accepted it, and then told us when she was 5 years old her mom had met with missionaries for awhile. She had never forgotten them. We arrived about 5 minutes after the office opened, and were given numbers 88 and 89! What?? We were literally in that office for over 4 hours, waiting. and waiting. and waiting. We FINALLY left the office to head home, and started talking to a woman on the subway. She quickly rejected us. So we talked to the woman on our other side. She opened up very quickly, and was very excited to read the Book of Mormon. She gave us her number and asked if we could meet again. We were really excited and stood up to get off at our stop, when a woman across the aisle ran over to us and said, "Wait! Can I please have your number before you leave?" Um, YES!! It was amazing. Once again, when things seem like they just aren't working out, the always will. If we had been earlier, we never would have met those incredible woman. The Lord's timing is amazing.
Well, that about sums it up. I love all of you! I hope you have a great week! Keep being amazing, and doing all those wonderful things you do. I know this church is true. It is truly the TRUE church of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I love you!
-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller :)
This is just too funny:
This is an actual sign posted by th British Columbia Fish and Wildlife Department!
WARNING
Due to the frequency of human - bear encounters, the B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen and any persons that use the out of doors in a recreational or work related function to take extra precautions while in the field.
We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by so you don’t take them by surprise.
We also advise anyone using the out-of-doors to carry “Pepper Spray” with them in case of an encounter with a bear.
Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces are smaller and contain a lot of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear feces have bells in it and smell like pepper.
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